Young Storykeeper Volume III

4 | STORYKEEPERS VOLUME III AGE SEVEN | 5
THE BOY, THE MERMAID AND THE LIGHTHOUSE
Once upon a time there was a little mermaid. Up above her palace was a
lighthouse. The lighthouse was on a little island called The Rock of Light.
The little mermaid longed to go to The Rock of Light but she was not
allowed. Every time she tried, her father cried out, “Come back Sophie,
it’s dangerous up there. The fire will burn you!”
Up in the lighthouse was a little boy called Leo. He lived with his
mother, the lighthouse keeper. Leo helped his mother to light up the
beam on the lighthouse every evening.
One evening Sophie saw a ship going to The Rock of Light. There
was a rope on it. She held on tight to it. When the boat got there, she
was amazed! It was night when she arrived on the shore. She saw the
light beaming bright and a little boy coming down the hill.
Oh no, I’d better hide! she thought.
Back down in the sea, Sophie’s father was looking for her all night.
“Sophie! Sophie! Where are you?” he called.
On land, Sophie was hiding in the seaweed. When she came out,
the boy saw her tail!
Leo said, “Wow, You’re a mermaid!”
“I am a mermaid, but please keep it a secret,” Sophie said.
Leo looked puzzled. “You mean the electricity we use to light the beam?”
“Oh!” said Sophie.
Leo asked, “Is the sea dangerous?”
“No,” said Sophie
“Oh!” said Leo. “My mother said it was because my father died at
sea”.
“That’s sad” Sophie said. “The sea is not dangerous to me because
it is my home.”
They finally said goodbye and Sophie dove back down. “See you
soon!” she said.
Sophie returned to the sea and her father found her. “Where have
you been?” he asks.
“Oh no!” she thought. “I can’t tell him, or he will be furious at me!”
“I’ve been travelling the seven seas,” Sophie lied to her father.
“I looked in the seven seas, but I did not find you,” he replied.
Sophie said, “I actually went to the Rock of Light. I met a boy called
Leo. He is my friend now.”
“Oh no! Did the fire burn you?” her father said.
“No way, José! It’s not fire. It’s electricity! It won’t
burn you!” Sophie said.
“Oh,” said Sophie’s father. He was not angry.
“You can go up if you wish. Friendship
is important and it makes you happy.”
Now Sophie goes up every day
to see Leo and he sings:
Alannah Butterly
Co Dublin
“Rainbows and butterflies flying away,
Out comes a mermaid every day,
Laughing and splashing in the sea spray,
She is my friend coming to play.”
“I will. My name is Leo”
“My name is Sophie. I love seashells,” she said. So they spent the
rest of the day collecting them. In the evening before Leo left to go help
his mum, she asked, “Does the fire really burn you?”
“What fire?” asked Leo.
“The fire that burns bright in the night?” she said.